Born in Miami, during World War II, Chris Smither grew up in New Orleans where he first started playing music as a child. The son of a Tulane University professor, he was taught the rudiments of instrumentation by his uncle on his mothers ukulele. Uncle Howard, Smither says, showed me that if you knew three chords, you could play a lot of the songs you heard on the radio. And if you knew four chords, you could pretty much rule the world. With that bit of knowledge under his belt, he was hooked. Id loved acoustic music specifically the blues ever since I first heard Lightnin Hopkins Blues In My Bottle album. I couldnt believe the sound Hopkins got. At first I thought it was two guys playing guitar. My style, to a degree, came out of trying to imitate that sound I heard.In his early twenties, Smither turned his back on his anthropology studies and headed to Boston at the urging of legendary folk singer Eric von Schmidt. It was the mid-60s and acoustic music thrived in the streets and coffeehouses there. Smither forged lifelong friendships with many musicians, including Bonnie Raitt who went on to record his songs, Love You Like A Man and I Feel the Same. (Their friendship has endured as their career paths intertwined over the years.) What quickly evolved from his New Orleans and Cambridge musical experiences is his enduring, singular guitar sound a beat-driven finger-picking, strongly influenced by the playing of Mississippi John Hurt and Lightnin Hopkins, layered over the ever-present backbeat of his rhythmic, tapping feet (always micd in performance).
NotesThis event is 21 and over. Any ticket holder unable to present valid identification indicating that they are at least 21 years of age will not be admitted to this event, and will not be eligible for a refund. Please see the venue's website for their current COVID policy. This ticket is for admission to a live music venue. It provides the holder to observe a musical performance and nothing else. Other goods and services may be purchased once inside the venue. Please note, seating is limited and is available on a first come, first served basis.
